Inaccurate

How to spell inaccurate

10 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce inaccurate

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does inaccurate mean?

1. adjectiveNot correct or exact; containing errors or failing to match the true facts.

Inaccurate in a sentence

• The report was withdrawn because several figures were inaccurate.

• The satnav gave an inaccurate estimate of the arrival time.

Where does inaccurate come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word is the negative of 'accurate', which English took from the Latin accuratus, meaning 'done with care' or 'carefully prepared'. That form was the past participle of accurare, 'to take pains over' or 'to attend to', built from ad, meaning 'to' or 'toward', and cura, meaning 'care' (the same root that gives us 'cure', 'curator' and 'manicure'). So at heart something accurate is something that has had care taken over it, and something inaccurate is the opposite: careless or simply wrong. The prefix in-, a Latin negative meaning 'not', was attached when the word came into wider English use around the 1600s. A useful memory hook is that the double 'c' in the middle echoes the original ac- prefix meeting the cur root, and the ending stays -ate rather than -ent.

How the word is built

• in- (not)
• ac- (from ad-, to)
• cur (from cura: care)
• -ate (adjective)